July 2--Boston’s public television station,
WGBH swapped its fund-raising list with the Democratic National Committee, a
possible violation of tax laws. But it doesn’t look like the IRS is doing
anything about it and WGBH isn’t saying much.

Angela Lifsey, WGBH director of media and community relations, said,
“We’re a little embarrassed about it.” She explained that some new employees
who made the swap had been unaware of the station’s policy against sharing
lists with political or religious groups.

The incident was uncovered in May when a 5-year-old Wellesley boy
received a fund-raising letter from the Democratic National Committee. The
boy’s mother, Jody Black, had made a donation to WGBH in her and her son’s
name last fall, which is how his name got on the station’s donor list and
into the hands of the Democratic National Committee.

WGBH subsequently admitted that it exchanged part of its list of 225,000
donor names with the committee. WGBH is part of the Public Broadcasting
System network and has a not-for-profit tax status. Black, a Republican,
said she was initally appalled that WGBH shared her name with a political
party. A former corporate attorney, Black said she immediately guessed that
the list was exchanged after her son’s name, Sam, appeared on the material
sent by the DNC.

WGBH and all not-for-profit corporations, referred to in legal circles as
a 501 (c) (3), are prohibited from supporting any political or religious
party. Republicans were not approached about exchanging lists with the
television station. The station, not the committee, initiated the trade.

WGBH spokeswoman Leah Hollenberger said it was “simply a mistake.”

“Unfortunately in a staff transition some lists were swapped with the
DNC,” she told Massachusetts News. “It did violate station policy and
we are very sorry and apologetic it happened. Steps have been taken to make
sure it will not happen again.” Those steps include “internal checks,” which
Hollenberger did not detail. She said only that “their internal checks have
been reexamined as part of an internal process.”

Hollenberger also refused to release the names of the WGBH employees who
made the deal with the Democratic National Committee because, she said, “It
is a personnel issue and we do not discuss personnel issues publicly.”

According to the IRS: “If a substantial part of the activities of an
organization consists of carrying on propaganda or attempting to influence
legislation, the organization’s exemption from federal income tax will be
revoked. This includes any attempt to influence any legislation through an
effort to affect the opinions of the general public or any segment
thereof.”

Doug Fleming, a lawyer and chairman of the tax section of the
Massachusetts Bar Association, told Massachusetts News that because
WGBH has a special tax status where it does not pay income tax, the IRS
could revoke that privilege if it is deemed that WGBH is deliberately
supporting one political party or another by exchanging donor lists.

“Since this matter has been reported in a newspaper, I would not be
surprised if the IRS has contacted the PBS affiliate regarding their
not-for-profit status,” said Fleming. “If the IRS determines it was done by
a low-level employee, that it was not intentional” by those who run the
station, “it might just get a warning,” he said.

“It would be more serious if it was determined to be directed from the
top, intentional and planned,” Fleming said. “The IRS might then end up
revoking its non-profit tax status.” Peggy Riley, an IRS spokesman, told
Massachusetts News, “We cannot confirm or deny the existence of any
ongoing investigation. Privacy and disclosure laws will not allow us to
disclose whether there is an investigation on nay taxpayer.”

Telephone calls to WGBH about whether the IRS had contacted the station
were not returned before Massachusetts News went to press. (If an
indictment is filed against WGBH by the IRS, it can be made public.) Also,
Democratic National Committee officials did not return phone calls regarding
the matter.

Lifsey said she is aware of consumers’ hatred of junk mail, but added,
“It’s a standard industry practice for non-profits like WGBH to swap or rent
lists to other groups in an effort to expand membership.” Renting names
means the group can use WGBH names for one mailing only.

She said she is not aware of any other occasion when the station violated
its mailing list policy.

After receiving an apologetic phone call from an official at WGBH, Jody
Black says she plans to donate again to WGBH next year.

John Pike is a free-lance writer who lives in Lowell.

Is MassNews Responsible for "Whistleblowing" at WGBHWGBH has Been Providing the Names of its Contributors to the
Democratic National Committee

Massachusetts News

August 2--Many people are wondering if
Massachusetts News is responsible for the "whistleblowing" into the
conduct of WGBH and other public television stations across the country.

The revelation that WGBH has been providing the names of its contributors
to the Democratic National Committee has created protests from many people.
However, the significance of the story has been missed by most, according to
some observers.

The most important thing, according to list brokers who sell lists of
names, is that all organizations wish to buy the names of people who have
similar tastes and attitudes. Therefore, the crucial point to notice is not
whether WGBH broke any tax laws or ethical standards, but that they went to
Democratic donors to raise their money, not to Republicans.

"This confirms that WGBH programming has a very liberal slant and is much
closer with the beliefs of the Democrats, and they all know it," one list
broker stated. "Otherwise, they would have wanted to get the names of
Republicans, not Democrats."

The Vice President for Communications at WGBH, Jeanne Hopkins, confirmed
that the Republicans were not approached for a list.

This endorses what many people have said for years, that the network has
a liberal bias. A study of 73 PBS programs by the Media Research Center
produced between 1990 and 1993 found that only two could be considered
conservative.

Story Broke In Beginning of May

The story about WGBH first surfaced in the beginning of May, but it
appeared only one time on the back pages of the Boston papers. It was a dead
issue when Massachusetts News put it on the front page of its June
edition, which was mailed to 170,000 homes across Massachusetts and to many
conservatives and others in Washington.

The June edition was still being delivered to many homes in the middle of
June. The story broke in Congress on Tuesday, July 13, which was well over a
month after it was printed in the Boston papers and only a few days after it
went to readers of Massachusetts News.

"There is no question that you had a lot to do with publicizing this
story," one commentator stated.

Tried to Deny It

The original response from WGBH was to say that it was a mistake and it
had only happened one time. It said that the mistake was made by a low-level
employee, but it did not say who that employee was so that the statement
could be verified. Then the Democratic National Committee revealed that it
had been sharing information with WGBH for many years and not just one time
as the station had claimed. It also said that the station approached it in
1993 and had been sharing names ever since.

It was then discovered that other PBS stations have also been exchanging
names with the Democrats.

Meanwhile, the General Manager of the station, Jonathan Abbott, finally
admitted that the Democrats were correct and it had been happening for
years. But he denied any wrong-doing, i.e. no law had been broken and no
ethical standard had been violated. He still did not reveal the name of the
"low level employee."

The Corporation for Public Broadcasting is warning all its member
stations that it "does not condone the providing of the lists to partisan
political organizations," but other observers find it difficult to believe
that they did not know.

Because of the incident, it appears as though PBS may not receive the
full funding it had originally expected from Congress.

Liberal Bias

The Publisher of Massachusetts News experienced the liberal bias
of PBS when he appeared as a guest on its local radio station, WBUR, in
January. He was a guest after writing his article about what is being taught
in the schools of Massachusetts about homosexuality. His viewpoint was not
popular with the liberals.

When he appeared as a guest, the interview was taped and then carefully
edited to help the liberal slant before it was broadcast. In addition, it
was apparent that the show had been discussed with the opposition guest
beforehand. A transcript of the entire interview before and after the taping
can be found
here.

Some Congressmen say it is difficult to understand the need for a
government-funded television and radio network which is obviously going to
have a partisan point-of-view. They said that no one would favor creating a
federal newspaper which would be obligated to the politicians. They wonder
why a radio or television station would be any different.

The incident was uncovered when a 5-year-old Wellesley boy received a
fund-raising letter from the Democrats. The boy's mother, Jody Black, had
made a donation to WGBH in her and her son's name last fall, which is how
his name got on the station's list and into the hands of the Democratic
National Committee.

Letters to the editor:

1. Shocked By WGBH

I was shocked when I read the article in your July issue
regarding WGBH exchanging its donor list with the Democratic National
Committee.WGBH tries to explain away the incident by saying that the list
swapping was a mistake made by a low level employee. If I remember correctly, a
very similar explanation was given by the Clinton administration when 1,100 FBI
files mysteriously turned up in the White House. I hope this matter is
investigated thoroughly by the IRS and the appropriate action is taken.

– Denise Torraco

2. More on WGBH

Received issue number two. Enjoyed reading it. Only one question - how did
John Pike miss the Diane Blair/Tyson Foods connection with Jim Blair/Hillary
Clinton/$100,000 commodities trading profit? I'm sure you know Diane Blair is
Mrs. Jim Blair and received a 6-year appointment as chair of the Corporation for
Public Broadcasting.